1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to job allocation control apparatus and method for controlling allocation of print jobs to a plurality of apparatuses.
2. Related Background Art
In what is called conventional commercial print industry in which a request to form printed matter such as magazine, newspaper, catalog, advertisement, photogravure, or the like is received from the third party such as customer or client, desired printed matter of the client is formed and delivered to the client, thereby obtaining a compensation from the client, it is a main stream even now that a large-scale printing apparatus or the like such as an offset photoengraving printer or the like is used.
In such print industry, the printed matter is subjected to processing steps such as sending a manuscript to a printer, design, layout, comprehensive layout (presentation by a printer output), proofreading (layout correction and color correction), proofreading printing (proof print), block copy forming, printing, post-processing modification, and dispatch until the printed matter is delivered. When the printer is used, the above block copy forming step is indispensable. Once a block copy is formed, it is not easy to correct it and the correction is fairly disadvantage in terms of costs. Therefore, careful proofreading, that is, the operation to check the layout and confirm the color is indispensable.
In such print industry as mentioned above, the large-scale apparatus is necessary and, in order to form the printed matter which the client desires, a certain time is also necessary. Moreover, a special knowledge is necessary in each of the operations in those steps and know-how of the experienced and skillful person called a specialist is necessary.
In recent years, in association with the realization of a high speed and high picture quality of a printing apparatus of an electrophotographic system and a printing apparatus of an ink jet system, a market called “Print On Demand” (hereinafter, abbreviated to a “POD”) has also appeared in opposition to the print industry as mentioned above. That is, in the POD, in order to enable a large number of print copies or jobs to be handled in a short period of time without using a large-scale apparatus or system, by making the most of a digital image forming apparatus such as digital copying apparatus, digital multi-function apparatus, or the like in place of the large-scale printer or the printing method as mentioned above, a digital print using electronic data is realized, thereby doing business.
In the POD market, as compared with the conventional print industry, the digitization is united, management and control using a computer begin to spread, and a printing technique is approaching the level of the print industry to a certain extent by using the computer. In such a background, a PFP (Print For Pay) called a print service of a copy/print shop print company, a CRD (Centralized Reproduction Department) called an in-house print service in an enterprise, and the like exist in the POD market.
However, in the print industry and the POD market as mentioned above, although it is intended to provide such a service as to execute business that the printed matter is handled as goods and all of the operations such as ordering and reception of the goods, packaging, delivery, after-sales services, inventory control, and deposit management are executed as a proxy in a lump, a room for investigation still remains.
In the print industry and the POD market as mentioned above, a system in which a management plan and administration business are supported through collection, modification, and report of production-related data, information is accumulated, and it can be provided to necessary divisions in accordance with necessity is also examined. However, actually, it is still difficult to realize and operate the optimum system.
Further, in the POD market as mentioned above, actually, it is difficult to employ skillful workers as compared with the conventional print industry. Although there are such demands that it is intended to finish the job at low costs, do business at a small investment, reduce a TCO (Total Cost of Ownership), and the like, actually, such demands cannot be sufficiently satisfied because the POD market is still a new market. Problems to be solved are left.
In JP-A-H03-269756, a technique in which when a security requirement to print jobs is high, for example, in the case where it includes personal information or information for in-company use only, a personal identification number is allocated to the job has been disclosed. In JP-A-H04-331175, a technique in which access control by a password is made has been disclosed. In JP-A-H05-213519, a technique in which a key is physically provided for a stacker has been disclosed.
In the case of the print job, even if the access control is made by an electronic method such as a personal identification number or the like, product matter is paper, such access control is insufficient when security is assured.
Even if the access to the paper is restricted by locking, such a restriction is not interlocked with an access restriction of the electronic data, so that it is still insufficient to assure the security.
Further, even if an environment where a clean room serving as a spatial partition in which only the person whose entering/leaving has been permitted can enter and leave is prepared and specific apparatuses are made operative in the clean room is constructed, in the case where the number of jobs which need the security increases and the jobs cannot be fully processed even if only the specific apparatuses in the clean room are used or in the case where a device in the clean room is out of order, there is a situation that a short deadline for delivery cannot be assured.